Background

Whilst in Zambia in 1984 I got to know Jipson Nyirenda. He was a typical example of a small time farmer, unable to support his family by farming in his own village. There was no profit from the corn harvest and there was no capital with which to buy fertilizer and good quality grain. This resulted in several poor harvests. This became an evil circle which was difficult to break.

Jipson and his family left the village and moved to the city, just like tens of thousands of other families every year. In most cases this leads to unemployment and a hopeless life in the slums.

Jipson was lucky and found work. He was able to save during the three years. With these savings he moved back to his village and returned to farming. He was able to buy fertilizer and seed which resulted in good harvests. This meant a profit which could be reinvested in farming.

Inspired by Grameen Bank

During a visit to Bangladesh I came into contact with Grameen Bank which lends money to the poorest for small investments, enabling them to improve their standard of living. I had recently visited Jipson in his native village and seen a marked difference in his farm produce and the attempts of the farmers who were unable to break the evil circle. I believed that it had to be possible even for them to secure a start capital. A connection to Grameen Bank became obvious to me.

Loans to Farmers

There are many differences between Bangladesh and Zambia, but I wanted to test the idea of granting loans to the poorest farmers. Several of us believed that this possibility could improve living standards for these people, and we founded the organization Zasp. With the help of membership fees, we banked a small capital which could be used as loans to farmers living in Jipson's neighbouring villages.

Six farmers were granted loans for the year's sowing. We anticipated equally good repayments as Grameen Bank .This resulted in the money being recycled within the society to be used for new loans the following year.

We hoped that many more would be interested by the idea and become members in Zasp. That was 1989.

Currently Zasp has a board in Zambia and in Sweden, which through close cooperation are working to support approx. 6000 people in the project area in Eastern Zambia.

Please read more under the headings listed above. If you would like to support development of the project area, please don't hesitate to become a member.

 

Agneta Håkangård

Agnetha with the first loaners.

Ploughing.

Women grinding corn.